what the Greeks were, except you know that the British Isles were then barbarous.

A few dates, therefore, perfectly learned, may suffice, and will serve as landmarks, to prevent your going far astray in the rest but it will be highly useful to connect the histories you read, in such a manner, in your own mind, that you may be able to refer from one to the other, and form them all into a whole. For this purpose, it is very desirable to observe, and retain in your memory, certain coincidences, which may link, as it were, two nations together. Thus you

may remember, that Haroun al Raschid* sent to Charlemagnet the first clock that was seen in Europe.

It may be desirable to keep one kingdom as a measure for the rest. Take, for this purpose, first, the Jews, then, the Greeks, the Romans, and, because it is so, your own country: then harmonize and connect all the other dates with these.

That the literary history of a nation may be connected with the political, study also biography, and endeavor to link men of science and literature, and artists, with political characters.

These are some of the kind of dates, which make every thing lie in the mind, in its proper order; * A celebrated caliph (or ruler) of the Saracens, a people of Asia, who flourished about the year 786.-J. W. I.

† Charlemagne, (or Charles the Great,) emperor of the West, ruled over an immense empire, which included France, a great part of Germany, Italy, Caledonia, Navarre, Arragon, the Netherlands, and many other countries. He died in the year 814. J. W. I.

they also take fast hold of it. If you forget the exact date, by years, you have nothing left; but, of circumstances, you never lose all idea. As we come nearer to our own times, dates must be more exact. A few years, more or less, signify little in the destruction of Troy, if we knew it exactly; but the conclusion of the American war should be accurately known, or it will throw other events near it into confusion.

Painting is a good auxiliary; and though, in this country, History is generally read before we see pictures, they mutually illustrate one another. Painting also shows the costume. In France, where pictures are more accessible, there is more knowledge generally diffused of common History. Many have learned Scripture History, from the rude figures on Dutch tiles. Farewell; and be

lieve me, yours affectionately.

HYMN.

COME, let us walk abroad; let us talk of the works of God.

Take up a handful of sand; number the grains of it; tell them, one by one, into your lap.

Try, if you can count the blades of grass in the field, or the leaves on the trees.

We cannot count them, they are innumerable; much more, the things which God has made.

The fir groweth on the high mountain, and the gray willow bends above the stream.

The thistle is armed with sharp prickles; the mallow is soft and woolly.

The hop layeth hold with her tendrils, and claspeth the tall pole; the oak hath firm root in the ground, and resisteth the Winter storm.

The daisy enamelleth the meadows, and groweth beneath the foot of the passenger; the tulip asketh a rich soil, and the careful hand of the gardener.

The iris and the reed spring up in the marsh; the rich grass covereth the meadows; and the purple heathflower enliveneth the waste ground.

The water-lilies grow beneath the stream; their broad leaves float on the water: the wallflower takes root in the hard stone, and spreads its fragrance amongst the broken ruins.

Every leaf is of a different form; every plant hath a separate inhabitant.

Look at the thorns that are white with blossoms, and the flowers that cover the fields, and the plants that are trodden in the green path. The hand of man hath not planted them; the sower hath not scattered the seeds from his hands, nor the gardener digged a place for them with his spade.

Some grow on steep rocks, where no man can climb; in shaking bogs,* and deep forests, and

* Bogs are marshes or morasses, composed of loose, wet soil, which shakes, when any one walks over it.-J. W. I.

desert islands; they spring up every where, and cover the bosom of the whole earth.

Who causeth them to grow every where, and bloweth the seeds about in winds, and mixeth them with the mould, and watereth them with soft rains, and cherisheth them with dews? Who fanneth them with the pure breath of heaven, and giveth them colors, and smells, and spreadeth out their thin, transparent leaves ?

How doth the rose draw its crimson from the dark brown earth, or the lily its shining white? How can a small seed contain a plant? How doth every plant know its season, when to put forth? They are marshalled in order; each one knoweth his place, and standeth up in his own

rank.

The snowdrop and the primrose make haste to lift up their heads above the ground. When the Spring cometh, they shoot forth! The carnation waiteth for the full strength of the year; and the hardy laurestine cheereth the Winter months.

Every plant produceth its like. An ear of corn will not grow from an acorn; nor will a grape stone produce cherries: but every one springeth from its proper seed.

Who preserveth them alive, through the Winter, when the snow is on the ground, and the sharp frost bites on the plain? Who soweth a small seed, and a little warmth in the bosom of the earth, and causeth them to spring up afresh, and sap to rise through the hard fibres?

The trees are withered, naked, and bare; they

are like dry bones. Who breatheth on them with the breath of Spring, and they are covered with verdure, and green leaves sprout from the dead wood?

Lo, these are part of His works, and a little portion of His wonders.

There is little need that I should tell you of God, for every thing speaks of Him.

Every field is like an open book: every painted flower hath a lesson written on its leaves.

Every murmuring brook hath a tongue : a voice is in every whispering wind.

They all speak of Him who made them: they all tell us, He is very good.

We cannot see God, for He is invisible; but we can see His works, and worship His footsteps in the green sod.

They that know the most will praise God the best; but which of us can number half His works?

ON THE CLASSICS.

THE authors, known by the name of the Greek and Roman Classics, have laid the foundation of all that is excellent in modern literature; and are so frequently referred to, both in books and conversation, that a person of a cultivated mind cannot easily be content, without obtaining some knowledge of them, even though he should not be able to read them in their original tongues. A